On our wedding day, a coffin decorated with a bow suddenly appeared.
I will never forget this moment. It should have been the happiest day of our lives.
Everything was perfectly organized. The dress, the open-air ceremony, the hanging flowers, the laughter, the tears of happiness. The sun was softly illuminated by the guests, and my heart was beating wildly as I walked down the aisle.
My future husband was waiting for me, excited, with shining eyes.
And suddenly, in the midst of this idyllic scene, the unimaginable happened.
The sound of wheels on gravel interrupted the music. All eyes turned to the path leading to the clearing. A man in black, whom no one seemed to know, was pushing a long cart in front of him… on which lay a coffin.
The coffin is made of light wood, carefully polished, with a huge white bow tied perfectly on the lid.
A murmur of disbelief ran through the crowd. Someone stood up, someone laughed nervously, deciding that this was someone’s very bad joke. But the man remained silent. He moved slowly, inexorably, with a frozen gaze, as if he were carrying out an order.
“I was shocked when I found out who it was from and why it was sent.”
He stopped right in front of the altar, between us. My groom tried to say something, but his voice broke.
I was shaking, paralyzed, unable to take my eyes off the coffin. Then the man pulled out a white envelope and handed it to me. On the front was my name, written in a hand I recognized at first sight.
It was my sister’s handwriting. My sister, who disappeared three years ago.
I opened the letter, trembling. The words were simple:
“Today is your day, but never forget the one you betrayed.”
My heart is shattered. This coffin… was a metaphor. Or a threat. Or perhaps something far worse.
I don’t remember how the ceremony ended. I only know that the coffin was taken away, the man disappeared, and since then a shadow has hung over our wedding.
What should have been a promise of happiness has turned into a mystery that I cannot solve.
And sometimes, in my nightmares, I see this white bow slowly untied…
…as if something inside wants to get out.
